The Christmas Mission
by FantasticJackie
Summary: Relena and Heero are Christmas shopping, but the Perfect Soldier is acting strangely. He disappears and leaves her alone in the stores. What could he possibly be doing?


**AN: **I wrote this story for my buddy, Adaon, for Christmas. He wanted a humorous HxR Christmas story, and this is what came out. It's not my usual attention to detail, though. - Which is a little annoying for me, but I did it on purpose because the point was humor, not details and full emotional depth exploration, etc. That would have undoubtedly doubled, at least, the story's length and even possibly eliminated much of the humor. So. Hope y'all enjoy this silly little fic. :)

**The Christmas ****Mission**

"What about this?" Relena asked her escort. She held up a pretty necklace for his inspection. They were out together this December 23 night, shopping at last for Christmas presents. Or _she_ was shopping; Heero had said his shopping was already completed. If she knew Heero, it had been completed before October.

It wasn't that she had procrastinated; not in the least. The responsibilities and duties of the Vice Foreign Minister had been far too many to allow any shopping trips. She usually wasn't finished working until after the mall and other stores had closed. She felt guilty, but she could always afford to overnight things, (except in the case of her brother and Miss Noin), and it helped that she knew she really couldn't have done it any sooner.

Heero examined the piece of jewelry – with a blank stare. He shrugged. "Would Hilde like it?"

She felt like smacking her forehead. "That's what I'm asking _you_."

His eyes passed over it again then locked on hers. "I don't know," he stated.

She sighed knowing that she should have known better than to ask Heero Yuy, of all people, about his opinion on jewelry. After more careful consideration and one last passing glance over the other options, she made the decision that it was, indeed, the correct gift for Hilde.

She was pleased with her progress; only three yet people remained: Lady Une, her brother, and…

"Okay," she said happily. "Onto Dorothy."

Heero's eyes darted sharply to her for an instant, as if in surprise, and then they roamed the store once again. "Relena, I need to take care of something." He turned to her, "I think you can take care of Dorothy without my help."

"You're going to leave me _alone?_"This was beyond shocking; Heero _never_ left her alone in a public place. It was something she usually found a little unnecessary and at times slightly annoying, but at the thought that he _wasn't_ going to be there, she was disconcerted.

His eyes roamed the area. "This place is secure; I've already checked it out," he said reassuringly. "I'll only be gone for an instant. I need to check something out."

She looked around herself, but found nothing out of the ordinary. Frowning, she stepped closer to him and asked in a whisper, "Is everything okay?"

He gave a single nod. "You're fine. I'll be back in a moment." And he turned and _left_.

She stared after him. Perhaps she should follow him. That was probably a bad idea, though. Following after him would only get her into trouble. She wondered what could possibly be so important for him to leave her alone. Moreover, the fact that it was a secret.

Deciding to ponder it later – or flat out ask him in private - as she only had three hours left to complete her shopping before the stores closed, she turned and focused on her present objective: what would Dorothy want? Her eyes passed over the jewelry before her; nothing in particular stood out. It didn't seem like an appropriate gift for her when Quatre could and probably did get her anything she wanted, anyway.

Dorothy was an intellectual sort of person; she thrived on, aside from her previous addiction to battles, new knowledge. She needed to head to a book store…

"Finished yet?"

Relena nearly screamed. She spun around, hands balled on her hips, and glared at him. In a hushed tone, as though trying to keep her surprise from the rest of the store's customers, – though it wasn't likely that they could have missed her jumping three feet off the floor – she scolded him, "Heero! How many times have I told you not to sneak up on me like that?"

"You should be more alert," he stated simply.

She sighed, still glaring at him. "Somehow I doubt that being more alert would help me hear the _Perfect Soldier_ approach silently from behind."

He smirked.

She eyed him suspiciously. "Are _you_ finished?"

A nod.

Silence hung between them; she waited for an explanation. She arched her eyebrows in askance when he said nothing. – An expression he purposely ignored.

"What did you decide on for Dorothy?"

"You're not getting off that easily, Yuy." She looked to the necklace in her hands once again, checking to make sure it was what she really wanted to get her friend. She already had the other half – a gag gift Hilde would thoroughly enjoy. "It's not as if you ever slack on your duty to protect me."

He frowned.

Head bowed, she peered at him through her lashes in a, she hoped, predatory stare. "I _will_ find out."

He snorted. "Hn. We'll see. – Ready to pay?" He gestured to the item in her hands.

She nodded her agreement, and they headed to the register.

Once at the bookstore, Relena took her time reading through and choosing the perfect gift. Heero stood beside her; the bookstore was crawling with people, and she could sense his uneasiness about being there. Ever alert, he kept his watch on all of the people around them.

Then suddenly… "I'll be right back," Heero said when she picked up a heavy book – the memoirs of a famous general.

Her eyes flew to him. "Again?"

"I need to take care of something," he said evasively.

"Heero-"

"You'll be fine." He edged away from her. The good thing about Dorothy's awkward taste in books was that barely anyone was down her isle. Still, she felt uneasy without her knight at her side.

When Heero returned a couple minutes later, she had already picked out both Dorothy's present and had just come across a book that might interest Ann.

There was no sign of where he had been or what he had done. "Is everything okay, now?" she asked, eyes glued on the book before her.

He nodded, but said nothing more.

Annoyed, she clapped the book together.

Again, she deferred to more important matters, though. More to herself than anyone else, she asked softly, "Now what would Milliardo want?"

"Zechs would want something useful," Heero said absently as he perused the shelf behind her. "Something that would come in handy."

"You think so?" she called over her shoulder.

"He's a practical man; he only wants what he needs."

"Really?" It was more a statement than a question. She turned and approached him from behind. Wrapping her arms around his middle, she stood on her toes and asked quietly into his ear, "Are _you_ a practical man, Heero?" He knew what she meant.

"Relena…" he said quietly. "Not in public."

"The media is nowhere to be seen, and I thought we didn't care anymore?"

"Hn."

"Are you going to answer my question?" she purred.

"Later," he replied distractedly. He turned his head to face her; only inches separated them, but he was all business. "Do you have any ideas for Zechs? We should hurry."

"Why?" He was in such a rush, but then, that was Heero. Usually he was conflicted about expressing affection in public, though. Being in visual range of anyone meant that he would never give in, but she could always tell that he _wanted_ to. There was no sign of that tonight, though. He was acting so strangely…

She held back a sigh; she wasn't at all pleased with his mild rejection, but instead of pouting, Relena focused on a way to get back at him as she waited for his response.

"I don't like shopping," he stated humorlessly.

She stared at him blankly. "Well, bah humbug to you, too," she said sarcastically.

He gave her a soft half smirk, his dark blue eyes twinkling in amusement. Why was that funny? The man was such a mystery sometimes. – Most of the time, actually. If she wasn't so annoyed with him at the moment, her legs would have felt like jelly and she would have wanted to kiss him from the way he was looking and smiling at her. Well… her legs still felt like jelly and she _did_ want to kiss him, but _she wasn't going to_. Maybe. They _had_ decided…

_No_, she told herself. _Revenge_. He wasn't acting like himself, by and large, and she was going to get back at him for that.

"Any ideas?" he asked again.

She resisted the urge to narrow her eyes and spit her tongue out at him. Focus. Focus… Something Milliardo would find useful…

"Oh!" she said as a thought struck her. "I have the perfect idea! Come on!" Releasing her hold on him, she grabbed his hand and pulled him along, leading the way out of the small shop and into the main mall once again.

The look on his face was that of absolute shock when they headed for the lingerie store. – Shock for Heero, at least. She held back a grin as he halted, rooted in place just outside.

"Relena…?" His eyes passed carefully over the shelves as if each lacy piece of underwear were a deadly weapon. "I thought we were looking for Zechs, not Noin?"

"We _are_ looking for my brother," she said matter-of-factly and tugged him into the store with her. She gave him a mischievous, coy glance. "Don't you think it's something he'll find _useful_?"

Heero might have actually colored, but she couldn't tell if it was an effect of the dim lighting. Either way, his jaw was clenched and his stance decidedly rigid; she'd gotten to him. Revenge was sweet. "I'd prefer to not have any window or even peep hole into your brother's sex life." They stopped moving again – this time just outside an isle with an array of silky selections. He crossed his arms over his chest. "Let's just go."

She pinned him with an inquisitive stare. "You're tense."

"I'm always tense," he stated dryly.

"No, you're tense about this." She crossed her own arms, then allowed one hand to rest under her chin, her index finger tapping her cheek thoughtfully. An evil idea flitted through her mind, and she bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing at the hilarity of it. She didn't know why she felt so silly, but she was going to attribute it to the season and spirit of the approaching holiday.

"He's your brother," he said, as if it would explain everything.

Actually, it _did _explain everything, but she wasn't going to let this opportunity slip by her.

She shook her head – and said a silent prayer that she would be able to keep a straight face. "No… You _saw_ something, didn't you?"

He blinked. "What?"

She affected a somewhat worried expression. "With my brother… and Noin…"

His eyebrows twitched slightly closer together; he was confused. "What are you talking about?"

Here it was. She could feel the laughter ready to burst in her chest as she asked seriously, "Was it Epyon or Zero that showed you that particular aspect of my brother's future?"

His mouth hung slightly agape, and she waited for his next move to begin laughing. But just as he was about to give his reaction in full, his eyes shifted to somewhere behind her. He watched over her shoulder for a moment before pinning her with a stern glance. "Not funny," he said unamused. "I'll be right back." And he swept past her.

It was her turn for her mouth to hang open. How…! What did she have to do to get him to pay attention to _her?_

She didn't understand it; what on earth could he possibly be doing?

"Let's go." He returned almost instantly and was nearly dragging her out of the store.

"Heero… What??"

"I'll explain later."

"Why don't you explain _now?_"

"It's not the right time."

They meandered through the mall looking for another store to enter. A department store seemed about as likely as any to have what she needed for Milliardo…

"Please hurry," he murmured behind her. "There's a place I want to show you."

Well, that explained his rush, she thought to herself. She was encouraged to hurry by Heero's incentive; what place did he have to show her? It didn't explain his disappearances for the evening, though, and she was bound and determined to find out what those were all about.

She found her brother's present relatively quickly: a nice sweater that would undoubtedly come in handy on Mars and a deck of playing cards. He had expressed to her on a number of occasions that he really wanted some; she had a feeling that she may not have wanted to know why.

Amongst the crowd of last minute shoppers, they exited the mall. The traffic was horrible exiting, and even once they got going on the road. Heero gave her no hints as to where they were headed.

A few minutes later, they pulled into the parking lot for a public park. He instructed her to leave everything in the car, and she did as she was told. Exiting the vehicle, they strolled hand in hand towards a moderately sized pond that had been frozen over. In the center was a Christmas tree; it wasn't very large, but it didn't need to be. Very few people were out anymore, their laughter and cries echoing about them piercing the scenic atmosphere sharply, but in a way that was still very welcome.

She smiled up at him. "Are we skating?" she asked. She didn't know if she was really up for a skate.

"Only if you want to," he replied as if reading her mind. "I thought you might like the spot."

"Hmm… Let's just watch for a while," she suggested.

They stared out across the ice rink in companionable silence, leaning against the metal fence line. Out of the corner of her eye, she studied Heero. The wind gently tugged at his hair, making it messier and, in her opinion, sexier. She loved running her fingers through his wild mane. The collar of his sliming, black trench coat flapped up and down. His eyes… shifted to look at her. She flushed, and blinking, he turned to face her, but his cell phone rang.

He read the name, "Duo. – I'll-"

"Don't leave me again, Heero." She didn't intend for it to come out as a command; she hadn't intended for it to come out at all.

He studied her for a moment before leaning forward and kissing her cheek. Then he straightened and picked up the line. "Yuy."

She watched him for a moment; his eyes darted around the area, ever alert as usual. With a sigh, she leaned forward on the railing and watched the few people that were still out skate about in ovals around the outside and lazy figure eights.

Her mind wandered, free of the worries of Christmas presents and work; it was strange and all together relaxing. She was suddenly tired.

"No," Heero said, eyes darting sidelong to her. Then he looked away, frustrated. "No," he repeated more adamantly. "No! Duo. No, I did not forget."

She frowned. Forget? Forget what? He was defensive over it. She didn't believe Heero to be lying, but Duo more often than not, even if accidentally, hit the nail on the head. What could he have forgotten? Her mind traveled over all his strange behavior throughout the evening. Each and every disappearance…

"I looked everywhere; I didn't find any."

Looking… That's what he always did before leaving her. He was looking for something… in the stores…

Her jaw dropped as the answer to the riddle finally popped into her head.

"I don't want to talk about this right now," he was saying. "You know why."

He had been Christmas shopping, and with how he had acted about the entire thing, she knew it had been for her. She couldn't believe him. He had forgotten to get her a gift and had been shopping _for_ her _with_ her. He had left her throughout the night to check out pieces of merchandise that caught his eye. What could he possibly be thinking?

"It was more efficient that way."

That was a subjective call, in her opinion. He could have shopped far more efficiently for her if she wasn't there, the hassle of a separate trip be d---ed.

"Yes. Soon," he said into the receiver. He hung up the phone.

"I've figured out what you were doing all night," she said as he pocketed the cell phone.

He turned to her sharply. "You have?"

She raised an eyebrow. "I really don't mind if you forgot to get me something, but did you have to shop for me while you were with me?"

He stared at her, blankly. And blinked.

"Don't be silly," he finally said. He stepped closer to her, but Relena crossed her arms defensively.

"I'm not being silly, Heero. What were you doing all night if not that?"

She hadn't expected him to make an intimate moment out of that, but when he again moved closer, she felt a thrill run through her.

His eyes softened, and he leaned in until only inches separated them. A million butterflies swirled in her stomach, and she nearly groaned in anticipation when he stopped. His breath intermingled with hers in a small white cloud between them…

"Ensuring," he said softly, eyes flickering down to her lips. "That I can do this."

His mouth covered hers, and the fervor with which he kissed her – slowly and tenderly, savoringly as one hand reached up to cup her jaw and the other rested on her waist – caused her to react verbally. "Mmm…" Shivering in delight, she pressed herself against him and brought her hands up to clutch lightly onto his shoulders right beneath his shirt collar. She wished she wasn't wearing gloves…

"I love you," she heard herself whisper in between kisses.

His response was a low, "Hmm," of assertion. He broke them apart for a moment. "Can I give you your Christmas present, now?"

"If it's you wrapped up in your clothes, then yes. And I'd be happy to unwrap you." The part of her mind that was always on the look out for potential misspeaks hoped and prayed that no one overheard that.

He chuckled quietly. She loved the feeling against his chest, and he leaned forward to kiss her quickly.

"Really," he said drawing slightly away. Their foreheads rested together. "Do you mind?"

He was serious. Well, he was always serious, but she was a little surprised by his request. It was his gift to her; if he wanted her to have it now…

"You have it on you?" she asked just then connecting the dots.

He nodded minimally.

"Well, if you must…" she smiled. "But you're not getting yours until Christmas."

He took a breath, and then her eyes widened as he slid from her grasp onto one knee and withdrew from his pocket a small, square box which he opened to reveal a ring.

"Heero…!" she breathed. This was completely unexpected; her knees felt weak.

"I love you, Relena" he said quietly, "With every ounce of my being, and I will forever. Will you marry me?"

She didn't remember answering – though it had to be to the positive because the next thing she knew, she was in his arms holding him tightly, an engagement ring on her finger.

"Yes," she told him again, though it was muffled by his coat. "Yes…"

Content in his arms, she didn't know for how long they stood there.

"Heero!" called a friendly voice. They both directed their attention to the hill behind him.

"Duo…" he said as the young man approached them, sliding a bit in the accumulated snow and ice that had yet to melt on the hill from previous freezes and snow flurries. "You were supposed to stay-"

"Yeah right. And miss being the first one to congratulate you both? I don't think so." He pulled Relena into a hug. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, Duo," she said dazedly. Wasn't he supposed to be on L2? And she was still in shock over Heero's random proposal. – Good shock. "What are you doing here?"

He nodded towards Heero. "Helpin' a friend in need."

"How was it?" said friend asked.

"Hm," Duo said thoughtfully. "Well, it certainly has its appeal. I still prefer knocking out sentries, though. – You _do_ realize that you can be charged for assault if they find out who you were?"

Heero shrugged. "I have diplomatic immunity. It was none of their business anyway."

Relena pulled her hands up in a defensive manner. "Wait, wait, wait. Duo. _Who_ did you knock out?"

"The guy with the camera aimed at you two," he said with a nod to the hill behind him.

Yet again, her mouth hung open, and she turned to Heero. "_That's_ what you meant by 'ensuring?'"

A single nod.

"And that's what you've been doing all night," she more stated than asked. "You've been attacking reporters."

"Photographers, too," he added as if it was an accomplishment.

"Heero! Did it ever occur to you what story they'll write about _that_?"

He shook his head confidently. "They don't even know what hit them."

"Nope," Duo confirmed coolly. "They won't have a mark to prove that they were ever attacked, and all film has been disposed of."

"There are cameras in the mall." Relena pointed out with a glance to Heero.

"Poor cameras with limited radii," he agreed.

"Come on, Relena. We're Gundam Pilots. We're not going to be tripped up by some 3rd rate security system or mere journalists," Duo said smugly.

"Journalists have quite a lot of power, actually," Relena pointed out. "I would think that you two would know that."

"They don't have any power when they're unconscious," Heero deadpanned.

Duo laughed. "Exactly. – Oy! Where's my payment, buddy? You told me you didn't forget."

Heero reached into his pocket and extracted a package which he tossed to the other former pilot.

She looked at the packet more closely. The color was an opaque, bright orange with little circles of different colors in various different places: a bag of Skittles. _Smoothie_ flavored Skittles, to boot.

He ripped the bag open and poured a few down his throat.

"_That's_ your payment?" she asked skeptically.

He nodded vigorously, happy with his choice. "I'm surprised he remembered them," the braided youth said with his mouth full of fruit-flavored sugar.

Heero cleared his throat and placed his arm around her. She couldn't keep from moving closer to him. She wanted to turn into him and hug him again… "We should be going," he said.

Duo nodded and made a shooing motion. "Go on, you two. Go _celebrate_." He waggled his eyebrows mischievously.

Relena turned pink and gave into at least the urge to turn her face into Heero's chest. But she almost immediately forgot her embarrassment at her previous line of thought. "Wait. Where's Hilde and where are you staying?"

He grinned. "Don't worry; we're both here. It just so happens that we had some business to attend to, but we figured we'd arrive a couple days early." He gave a wink.

She smiled back; Duo was such a good friend. Especially to Heero. She wondered if he knew how highly her now fiancé thought of him.

"Thank you," Heero said as Duo turned and waved good bye heading back for the hill.

"Is there another parking lot up there?" she asked.

His reply was affirmative, "Hmm." He imperceptively kissed the crown of her head. Turning into him once again, she grinned. "Ready to go?" he asked quietly.

"Mmm… Not really, but yes." She peered up at him and said, "I just want you, so whatever you decide."

He smiled softly at her, "Well, let's go, then." He led the way back to the car.

She looked at him sidelong, curiosity striking up inside her. "You never did answer my question, by the way. Are you a practical man, Heero?"

He returned her gaze. "Yes," he answered after a moment. "I only want what I need."

She smiled coyly as they reached the car. "And what do you _need_, Heero Yuy?"

He pinned her against the vehicle, leaning closer. His cobalt blue eyes sparkled mischievously. "I need some privacy with you."


End file.
